President George Bush's efforts to inoculate his re-election campaign from popular anger over a shortage of flu jabs were shaken yesterday by reports that prominent Republicans had jumped the queue for the vaccine.

Only days after Mr Bush urged healthy Americans to go without this winter so that the elderly, children and the infirm could have first call it emerged that Vice-President Dick Cheney, the treasury secretary, John Snow, and the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, had all received jabs.

A shortfall of 50 million doses - caused by contamination of vaccines at a British manufacturer - has emerged as an issue in the election, with the Democratic challenger, John Kerry, accusing the Bush administration of mismanaging health care.

Both he and his running mate, John Edwards, have said they will forgo the vaccine this year. Mr Bush says he will do the same, but that has done little to allay growing concern about the vaccine shortfall, or anger about the lack of a rational distribution system.

Mr Cheney had the shot because, aides say, he falls into the high-risk category as a survivor of four heart attacks. "He gets them every year at the recommendation of his doctors because of his 25-year history of heart disease," said a spokeswoman.

This explanation will probably satisfy many Democrats - Bill Clinton also received the vaccine after undergoing heart-bypass surgery last month.

But there is likely to be less understanding of Dr Frist, a physician, who said members of Congress were also in a high-risk group because they had to mingle with the public and shake a lot of hands as part of their official duties.

"Once again, the Bush administration proves that it is the 'do as we say, not as we do' White House," said a Kerry campaign statement.

Mr Bush's health secretary, Tommy Thompson, has refused to set mandatory guidelines for vaccine distribution or declare a public health emergency, saying this would cause too much confusion.